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Monday, 29 September 2014

It's that time of year again, that time where all the colleges hold their open days and you're expected to make what seems like the hardest decision of your life. I hoping that by writing this blog post I may make you feel a little more confident when choosing your college and courses.

In no way am I an expert in this i'm purely speaking off my own experience seeing as I was in this position just a year ago.

My first tip would be to keep open minded about all the colleges you are going to view. Before even viewing the colleges I went to see i'd already made a judgement of how much I'd like each one and it's fair to say that what I thought was going to be my least favourite is now my college today. You can't make a decision when you don't really know anything about the college so try not to make a judgement before visiting.

Secondly don't be afraid to ask questions. Many people give up their own time to help out at the open evenings and are purposely there to answer your questions so please use them. In each department there'll be both teachers and students of the subject able to give you first hand information on the course. This is particularly useful if you have a few colleges in mind as you'll be able to compare what each college will be able to offer you. This is also extremely helpful if you are unsure what courses to take as you can ask for information on the subject that you may previously never thought of taking!

As well as this i'd visit subjects that I feel i'd be interested in however not definitely going to take. You may find that one of the courses you choose doesn't work out so it's always a good idea to have a backup or two. Don't feel pressured into taking a course you won't enjoy because of pressure from friends as this will dampen your whole college experience. In the first couple of weeks most colleges will allow you to move courses around to make sure you're completely happy so if you feel you've made the wrong choice you'll always have the chance of changing courses later down the line.

Furthermore if you have a set career goal or an aim of a specific university course now is the time to start looking at this also. Some universities/jobs require certain A levels so it'd be a good idea to find these out early so you can choose the right colleges courses that can lead onto further education.

Finally look at as many colleges as possible. Make sure you look at every college in a commutable distance so you can compare and make sure it's a place you can see yourself. Don't worry about where your friends are going just make sure you choose the right college for you.

I know this whole experience can be extremely daunting however once you've started I believe college is 100x better than high school as long as you keep on top of the work load and attend every lesson. I could go on for hours about this topic but I won't waste anymore of your time. If you'd like to ask any questions then feel free to leave them in the comments and i'll reply asap.

Wednesday, 24 September 2014

Yesterday was officially the first day of autumn and as anyone that knows me would tell you autumn is my all time favourite time of the year! I absolutely love the crisp cool air in the morning upon your face and the excuse to just snuggle up on the sofa in front of your all time favourite movie. I thought now would be the perfect time to let you in on my autumn essentials.

1) Grab a mug of hot chocolate. Everyone knows that when the weather outside is a bit nippy we all crave the warm loving feeling that a hot drink gives us. Hot chocolate just screams out autumn for me so this had to be included in my list of essentials!

2) Invest in red. When I think of autumn I instantly think of the colour red. That beautiful red that the leaves change to fills me with absolute excitement. If I could my entire wardrobe would be filled with these gorgeous shades of red during this time of the year. My absolute go to would be a red flannel shirt accompanied with a pair of skinny jeans and black ankle boots.

3) Stock up on candy. We all know autumn means halloween and lots and lots of movies; this all calls for one thing! CANDY! Don't have the embarrassment of having no candy on halloween night so why not stock up now? If it somehow manages to vanish before October 31st it gives you the perfect opportunity to go and buy some more!

4) Snuggle in a big warm coat. When the weathers a bit cooler than you're used to having that extra layer is much appreciated. A nice big coat is super comfy, practical and offers a big fashion statement.

5) Lots and lots of candles. I have a slight obsession when it comes to candles and when the evenings start drawing in I can't help but light a few candles around the room and relax in that calming glow they give off. Scented candles are my guilty pleasure and I could spend a fortune on them.

Sunday, 21 September 2014

Today I thought i'd try something a little bit different and do a cheeky book review for you all! As i'm sure most of you are aware Alfie Deyes (pointlessblog) recently released his much anticipated book 'The Pointless Book'.

Ever since Alfie first mentioned the fact he was bringing a book out it was hard to contain my excitement and it's fair to say that this book definitely hasn't disappointed. For those of you that aren't sure what 'The Pointless Book' is it's very simply an activity book full of everything from playing games with your friends to baking a cake in a mug. You could say that Alfies book is very similar to the likes of 'wreck this journal' however the overall aim isn't to wreck the book.

There's no competition with the book you simply complete it at your own leisurely pace however it's fair to say that it should take to a fair while to carry out all the activities and most of the activities you can carry out time and time again. It's definitely safe to say this isn't a book you'll get bored of quickly.

The thing I like the most about this book is how interactive it is. The book comes with it's very own app which you can easily download straight to your smart phone called 'The Pointless Book App'. Some pages feature an image of a smartphone which instantly tells you theres a video that Alfie has created exclusively for the book giving you access to extra content! you simply open the app up and select the 'scan the page' option and a video linked to the page should pop up on screen! It's all magic if you ask me.

Overall I believe that this book is a must have wether your a 'Pointlessblog' fan or not!

Wednesday, 10 September 2014

Here is an extremely long over due post about my final week on NCS a month over due in fact. So let hop back onto this old bandwagon and begin.

Week three is all about pursuing our campaign as well as completing a 100 challenge challenge day.

Monday was a day off however this didn't stop us from all meeting up to start preparations early. Around nine members of our team headed towards 'Hobbycraft' to buy the materials needed to create a tree. (our campaign idea is on the previous post click here to see it) We bought two massive pieces of cardboard, some paint and paintbrushes. We noticed that inside hobbycraft there was a table free so on the off chance we asked a member of staff if we'd be allowed to use it. After explaining what we were doing they happily lent us the table for the afternoon and offered all their help by supplying us with things like scissors and craft knifes while we were there. As teamwork goes I think we worked well finishing most of the tree off by closing time.

Day two was left for shopping however as our team had already bought a majority of supplies the day before and online we only had a minimal amount left to get and this included glitter.. lots of glitter. We returned back to our meeting venue early and finished the tree off completely. We were all extremely happy with how it turned out and finally felt as if Friday was going to be a success. On Wednesday as a team we went and volunteered at a local charity shop called 'Relate' the staff were extremely lovely and seemed very excited to have us there. They had us doing all sorts of things for example: Setting up a book sale, working in the stock room and handing out leaflets to members of the public in the street. It was a great day and gave us all the opportunity to get experience of working in retail and giving back the community. On Thursday we carried out 100 Challenges to raise money for 'Relate' overall we did very well and raised quite a bit of money. The aim of the event was to complete 100 challenges in our town within about 5 hours. We managed to complete about 97 challenges in the end. The challenges included things like start a conga line and get 5 people to join in, Do the Macarena in public and start a Mexican wave.Friday was the big day, the day this had all been leading up to. CAMPAIGN DAY. As a team we all walked into town carrying all our equipment for the day. It's fair to say we got a few strange looks from the public when they saw us carrying a massive cardboard tree. We got to town and chose a spot to set up. It started off s a huge success and our tree was filling up with lightbulbs nicely however at about mid day this began to slow down a bit. Some of us went off to lunch and noticed that the town centre was much busier than where we were originally situated and so we decided to move. We managed to attract a whole range of new people and even had people asking about what we were doing and about NCS. At around 2pm a huge thunderstorm came over and resulted in us having to close the campaign early however I believe it was an overall success. This was then end of NCS and we were all so sad that it was all over! I haven't all met up as a team as of yet but we're trying to plan something for the near future. I would recommend NCS to anyone aged 16-17 and it really is an opportunity of a lifetime. I hope you have all enjoyed these little NCS blog posts. Let me know what type of posts you'd like to see in the future by leaving a comment below! - Jessica xFOLLOW ME ON BLOGLOVIN' ♡